Harold Peiris (1904–1981) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, author, scholar, teacher, patron of the arts, and philanthropist.
[1][2][3] He is sometimes confused with Harry Pieris, a cousin and contemporary, who was a member of the Colombo '43 Group of artists and established the Sapumal Foundation.
[4][5][6] Born to a celebrated wealthy aristocratic family, he was the only son of Charles Peiris, the younger brother of the more famous Sir James Peiris, and Maude de Mel, who was a sister of Sir Henry de Mel.
[3] Peiris worked as a teacher in Rabindranath Tagore’s institution, Visva Bharati before returning to Ceylon in 1935.
[15][16][17] Peiris is sometimes confused with Harry Pieris, a member of the Colombo '43 Group, who founded the Sapumal Foundation in 1974 to which he bequeathed his house and art collection.